The Yellow Wallpaper Agency As Liberation Essay

Agency as Liberation. Women are controlled by men. Well, in some aspects of society, women’s freedoms are limited by the patriarchy, which places men’s agency and egos above women’s. Having agency is the ability to exert one’s self and control the trajectory of one’s life. The definition can vary depending on the context in which the word is used. However, in the context of feminist literature, agency can be described as the ability to express one’s ideas, self, and power, and have it validated by outside perspectives. An autonomous person who has a certain amount of power to control their public image, and determine the course of their life, has agency. A feminist work is defined by its depiction of agency. In feminism, agency is important

Feminism’s main goal is women’s liberation and for women to have the capacity to determine how their life plays out without the looming influence of the system that systematically and socially oppresses them, the patriarchy. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, is a story about a woman going through postpartum depression and psychosis. Her husband is a physician who ends up confining her to a room with yellow wallpaper that she hates. The protagonist falls into a downward spiral and thinks that the wallpaper has a horrid stench, that its pattern keeps changing, and that there is a woman in the wallpaper that she has to set free. The story ends with her tearing down the wallpaper and her husband fainting at the sight of the state the protagonist is in. The second story, “The Myth of a Latin Woman,” is a retelling of the racism and sexism author Judith Ortiz Cofer experienced in the United States. It highlights how stereotypes of Latina women are ignorant, and harmful, and can cause Latina women to be forced into uncomfortable or even dangerous

The author is trying to express that although the protagonist knows what is best for her, she can not act on her knowledge because she has no control over how she is perceived by outside perspectives. Her husband does not respect her words and is ignoring her dignity by actively prescribing her to rest when she knows she needs other forms of help. This is an effective message because Gilman is highlighting that without validation of one’s dignity in society, people will disregard the basic right of autonomy over one’s self, especially in the context of men and women. The message is very universal. The theme of ignoring women’s dignity and autonomy is a recurring issue. Women are neglected when it comes to medical care after giving birth, mental health issues, reproductive care, and general health concerns because they are usually accredited to hormonal fluctuations or presumed over-dramatization of